Hot Mogma
by Lone Panda
Summary: A Mogma's affinity for treasure; who's to say it's not passed on to a Skyloftian that fell from her perch among the clouds? OwlanXOC
1. Moths and Friendships

**AN: This story idea would not. Leave. Me. Alone! And so I had to write it. It had to be done. I've had a particular obsession with Owlan as of late, and I happen to love the Mogmas the best out of all the land dwellers, so I came up with this. It'll be my first Zelda story, so wish me luck! Also, I apologize for any grammer or spelling errors I happened to overlook. One can only do so much. And feel free to leave any kind of review, I don't mind. I also don't mind if you don't. Either way. Also, did you guys notice that when you choose his character from the list, his name is spelled Owlen, not Owlan? But on Zelda Wiki it's spelled with an a. Huh. I wonder which one is right.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Legend of Zelda. But my brother and I DO own every single game of it out there.:3**

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><p>Life was not always fair.<p>

Everyone knew it. All the Skyloftians knew it, from the Lumpy Pumpkin to the littlest island; everyone knew it.

Perhaps no one knew this more than six-year old Kespel.

Who was, at that precise moment in time, gazing on at the other children with sad, green eyes. Her brown hair swirled about her in the ever present breeze among Skyloft as she watched all the kids her age milling about with incessant chattering. Today, they were all gathered in the Plaza to choose their Loftwing. Or, rather, bond with it. So far, the other children were having a bit more success at it than she was.

A boy that went by the name of Owlan had, unsurprisingly, already found his bond with an indigo Loftwing. Horwell was smiling down at his brightly feathered yellow Loftwing, and Wryna was giggling with her bird, a distinct light pink. A young girl named Piper was nervously watching a dark colored Loftwing, which was eying her skeptically.

Only Kespel was left, really. She had tried, but it didn't seem that any Loftwing would bond with her. She had thought that perhaps a shy Loftwing, quite like herself, would be best, but all of the timid ones had fled from her touch, avoiding her like the plague. Earlier, she had even gone to the dark Loftwing that Piper was now hoping to bond with, but it had immediately pecked her hand sharply, dispelling the thought that perhaps she needed a Loftwing the exact opposite of her personality.

Now, all she was left with for her troubles were sour thoughts and a throbbing hand. Sitting down quietly on the ground away from everyone else, in the shade of the Light Tower, she let herself watch the other children with jealousy. Rather than denying her emotions, Kespel always seemed to embrace them. This action would usually result in getting her in trouble when she let her anger take control, as rare as the emotion was for her.

But looking on quietly at the other children, when they had Loftwings and she did not, she couldn't deny the jealousy flowing through her.

"Kespel, for a happy day, you certainly do not look happy."

The sudden voice startled her out of her gazing, and she looked up to see who had spooked her. It was Headmaster Gaepora, and he was watching her with a curious yet sympathetic look on his face. It made her nauseous just seeing it, and she quickly averted her eyes to her aching hand. She mumbled something unintelligible, staring at her fingers.

Gaepora frowned. "What was that, child?"

She lifted her head up, but did not look at him. Instead, she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye once, then reverted to watching the children and their Loftwings again. She noticed, with all too much bitterness for a young girl, that Piper had succeeded in bonding with the dark feathered bird who had wanted nothing to do with Kespel. She stood by it, stroking the top of it's head with her fingers and smiling widely. Kespel mirrored Piper's grin with a frown of her own. "What good is a Skyloftian that can't even bond with a Loftwing?"

Gaepora followed her eyes. "Ahh," he said softly. "I see what the problem is." He turned his attention back to her, and said, "Come with me. I think I know the perfect Loftwing for you." He smiled underneath his mustache as her eyes filled with hope. She leapt from her spot on the ground and practically ran after him as he weaved through the crowd of Loftwings settled in the Plaza. He stopped now and then, searching among them, before he finally led her to the edge of the flock, near the back. He swept her to his side and pointed out a single bird to her; it was a deep blue hue, darker than the sky. It gave off an air of 'cool', a nonchalant attitude that seemed befitting it's colored plumage. She began to walk toward it, then stopped.

Gaepora noticed her hesitation. "Go on," he urged kindly, his long eyebrows wiggling a bit. "You'll like him, I promise."

Swallowing, not daring to hope, she sluggishly made her way toward the blue Loftwing that had now seemed to sense her presence upon her arrival._ 'The problem isn't if _I_ like him,'_ she thought, as she stopped in front of the bird, which she knew was a boy. He stared at her almost lazily. _'The problem is whether or not _he_ likes _me_.' _Swallowing again, she tentatively reached out a trembling hand, ready to yank it back at a moment's notice if he decided to peck her.

The bird paid little attention to the hand that was now slowly stroking his head feathers. Instead, he closed his eyes, let out a huff that might have translated loosely as _'Whatever'_, and settled down again, resting his beak on Kespel's shoulder to conserve energy. Accepting this as a sign of encouragement, Kespel continued her ministrations. However, this time she did so confidently, and with a beaming smile that would put the sun to shame.

_'I did it!'_ she thought happily. _'This Loftwing actually likes me!' _She took another look at the lazy bird, and corrected herself._ 'Well, I_ suppose _he likes me...'_

But her happiness was not to be deterred, and so she stood, petting her new Loftwing companion.

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><p>It was two years later that Kespel would finally make her first friend.<p>

Now eight-years old, she sat at the back of the class near the bookshelves and stared off into space.

Although not all the children were knights in training, they still had to attend school to learn how to handle their Loftwings, what to do when you were flying and a storm hit, blah blah blah... the rest was always tuned out by Kespel. Nobody ever really talked to her, besides Horwell, and so she usually just tuned out all the talking around her.

The slamming of multiple books startled her out of her daydreams. She looked around the classroom to see all the children beginning to leave the room _'Seems like class is over,' _she thought. Heaving a small sigh, she gathered together her books and walked towards the doorway. Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention, though, and she paused for a moment in the opening.

It was a boy with a shock of white hair. _'Owlan,'_ she remembered, watching him. He was still sitting at his desk, dutifully reading what seemed to be a book too thick for a child. She squinted at it, trying to make sense of the words on the page he was currently studying, but the text was too small for her to see. She figured that asking him would be a better way of finding out what he was reading than ruining her eyesight, so she spoke up. "What are you reading?" she questioned.

Owlan paused in his studying. He glanced at her before going back to reading. "It's a book about plant biology," he replied shortly, flipping to the next page.

Blinking, Kespel took note that they were now the only ones in the small classroom. Deciding that he was alright if he liked plants, she walked the short distance to his desk and plopped down beside him, dropping her books on the table. "What kind of plants?" she asked, leaning towards him to read over his shoulder.

He looked vaguely uncomfortable at the intrusion to his personal space, before he said, "The ones most commonly found in Skyloft."

She nodded, and then grinned. "I didn't know you liked plants. What's your favorite kind? I like the flowers that grow all over Skyloft, the ones the Remlit's can sometimes be found in. I think those are their favorites, too."

Seemingly not knowing how to respond to that, he shifted his attention to his hands. "I don't have a favorite so far," he told her awkwardly. "But I rather like those, too."

Kespel beamed at him and laughed. "I knew I wasn't the only one who thought plants were cool! Horwell thinks they're okay." She leaned towards him then, cupping a hand around her mouth and darting her eyes around as if she were about to share an important secret. "But just between you and me, I think he likes the Remlits more than the flowers they can be found in." She said this with such a serious expression that Owlan couldn't help but let a corner of his mouth twitch upwards in a half-smile.

"I didn't know you liked botany too!" he said excitedly, his amber eyes glowing.

"Of course! I think plants are much more interesting than people. Although I don't know much, I still like them." She said all this quickly, reverting back into her usual shell she wore when talking to people. Owlan's sudden interest in her seemed to remind her that she was talking to a boy she hardly knew. What had possessed her to talk to him so suddenly? She didn't know the answer to her question, though.

Now that he knew she liked plants too, he practically jumped to show her the thick, difficult looking book that he had picked from the bookshelves. "I hope to become an expert on them someday, so I'm studying as much as I can!" he told her enthusiastically. He showed her many diagrams from the book, and, now in his element, it seemed he couldn't stop talking. Kespel looked on in wonder. Quiet, reserved Owlan was practically running his mouth to tell her all he knew.

And so they sat in the classroom, Owlan talking, Kespel asking the occasional question. As the rest of the day dragged on, they hardly noticed when the sun began dropping lower into the sky. Eventually, they both yawned, said goodnight to each other, and, with both making promises to the other to pick up on the topic tomorrow, slunk into their rooms to sleep the night away.

As Kespel fell asleep, thinking that perhaps she finally,_ finally_, had a true friend, she realized that maybe she _did _know the answer to her question, after all.

She was a moth, and Owlan was the flame. She was drawn to him against her will; not that she was unwilling in the first place.

Kespel just hoped she didn't get burned to a crisp. Life would be sort of hard if that happened.


	2. A Silly Notion

**AN: Okay, chapter two! Sorry for the wait and everything, but there's not really much you can do about it.:) This chapter was so much fun to write! There were so many allusions and so much foreshadowing, it made my head spin! Hahahaha! Ah, well, read on.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Legend of Zelda.**

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><p>"Kespel!"<p>

The shout rang out on the floating rock in the sky. A young boy no older than ten with a shock of white hair was frantically racing towards his friend, a girl about his age. The girl with brown hair swaying in the wind and green eyes wide with fright was teetering on the edge of a diving platform. The boy raced toward her, but just as he reached out to grab her hand she fell over the edge. Heart pounding, he hurriedly looked over the platform to see...nothing. The girl called Kespel was gone.

"Owlan!"

He jumped about a mile in the air, clutching his chest. Spinning around, he was shocked to see his best friend, Kespel, grinning and hovering in the air on her Loftwing, a bird she had named Juncan. She had given him the name in order to "give him a distinguishing feature that set him apart from the others", as she had put it. But right now, Owlan didn't care about distinguishing features of Loftwings, or the fact that his friend was alright. Because she was most definitely _not_ going to be alright when he _strangled_ her for scaring the wits out of him.

Owlan glared at Kespel, still clutching his chest and breathing heavily as he walked over to her. She jumped off her Loftwing, giving his beak a loving pat and turning to her best friend. She grinned again. "Got you good, didn't I? That's the third time this month! You really should try to be less gullible, Owlan."

Still breathing heavily, he scowled, and reached out shaking hands to her. He didn't know whether to strangle her or hug her. He settled for in between, gripping the back of her neck and wrapping his other arm around her middle, pulling her towards him. She laughed, and hugged him back fully.

"You...You..." He seemed at a loss for words at first, but finally managed to spit some out. "You scared me...again." He tugged her closer.

Pulling back, she frowned. "It was only a joke. I do it at least once a month, and you still haven't learned." She sighed, but then smiled half-heartedly, shrugging. "Sorry. But at least it keeps you on your toes, eh?"

He sighed, golden eyes staring at the ground. "But I'm afraid that one day you'll fall off..._for real_."

Kespel watched him worriedly. Biting her lip, she took him by the shoulders, forcing him to look at her. "Look," she said, "I'll stop, okay? I'm sorry I worried you." She chewed on her lip and released him. She scuffed the ground up with her toe, dragging it through the dirt. "Besides, I just wanted to see if you would actually care if something happened to me."

Owlan snorted. "Of course I would care. You mean the world to me. You didn't have to pretend to fall off Skyloft to prove that." They began to walk together towards the Knight Academy, strolling up the stairs. Kespel began to think about something that had been haunting her for a while. She began to think about her feelings, feelings for Owlan that were changing, morphing into forbidden feelings that were taboo when you were best friends.

She glanced up from her musings, giving him a small smile. "You sound as if you like me."

"Of course I like you. You're my best friend."

She laughed quietly. "I meant as more than a friend."

He snapped his head towards her so fast she was surprised he didn't break his neck. Owlan had a look on his face she rarely ever got to see; shock. "W-What?" he stammered, narrowing his golden eyes that sent her heart thumping. "Why do you say that?"

Swallowing and thinking at the speed Loftwings, she hastily replied, "Nothing! I was just thinking, since you always seem ready to catch me if I fall off of Skyloft. And," she continued quietly, glancing up at him to watch his reaction, "I know you would catch me. Always."

He stared at her with an unreadable expression for such a long time, Kespel was afraid he thought she went crazy. By now they had stopped at the Academy doors, standing stock still in front of them, not moving an inch. She hardly dared to breath, waiting for his answer, hoping she could decipher _something_ from it. Finally, he gave it. Kespel held her breath.

"That's ridiculous," he said quietly, turning his head away from her. "What a silly notion. How in Skyloft could I like you? That would ruin our whole friendship. You're my best friend. Nothing more." And he quickly opened the doors, ducking through them and closing them so fast one would think Kespel had punched him in the gut and he was trying to get away from her.

Too bad the feeling was the other way around.

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><p>Darkness fell upon Skyloft, blanketing it in shadows and giving peace to all but one creature; a small figure currently climbing out of bed and inching towards the door to her room. Opening it silently and darting it's eyes quickly down both ends of the hallway, it hastily snuck out of the doorway, closing it and hurrying down the hall. The figure was just about to open the double doors that led outside when a voice interrupted it, startling it so badly it jerked it's hand away from the door handle, twirling around.<p>

Kespel gazed guiltily at Horwell, who, although she knew was probably irritated at her, was still smiling.

"What are you doing? You know we're not allowed out at night," he admonished her, still smiling. Kespel knew Horwell always smiled, except when he was very worried or very angry. She was used to it, but sometimes it just gave her the creeps.

She stared down at her clothes, which she hadn't bothered changing out of; knee length dark red pants, and a white shirt with a v-neck and sleeves that came down to her fingertips, billowing out at the end. She also had a dark red sash tied around her waist, and brown leather boots adorned her feet. Sighing quietly, she brought her gaze back up to her friend. "I just," she started, eyebrows furrowing, "I just...needed some time to think. I was going to take a walk." When he looked like he was about to argue, she clasped her hands in front of her. "Please don't tell!" she begged. "I promise I'll be careful! There's nothing dangerous out there, you know that. All I'd have to worry about is falling off, and I won't do that!"

Horwell stood there silently as she begged, and finally relented. "Alright," he sighed, and was quite amused when she cheered quietly. "But be careful. And try to sort out your feelings."

She promised many times to be careful, and finally left through the doorway, sneaking a last peek of Horwell leaving to go back to his room before she shut the heavy wooden door. Breathing the crisp night air once, twice, three times, she made her way down towards the pond that formed from the waterfall's everlasting flow. Carefully she walked there, and finally she sat near the water's edge, bringing her knees up to her chest and hugging them.

_'How could Owlan be so stupid?'_ she thought furiously. _'You would think he would realize that I like him! Of course, then you would think he would realize I wouldn't fall off Skyloft, too.' _She scoffed. _'As if that would ever happen! The day I fall off Skyloft is the day all of our descendants are so bonded with their Loftwings, they become a combination of Skyloftian and bird!' _Although she knew it was a ridiculous thought, an ominous shiver ran down her spine; she chose to ignore it.

Kespel instead watched the water, quietly thinking of the day's events, wondering how _she_ could be so stupid. _'How could I think Owlan would ever like me?' _she thought bitterly, green eyes hardening until they looked like emeralds. _'He could never like me. Ever.' _Gazing at her reflection in the water, she was suddenly overcome by an overwhelming emotion, one she couldn't describe but s_he hated it_. Slapping the water and dispelling her reflection into ripples, she scooted back from the edge of the pond. _'What's wrong with me?' _she thought._ 'I shouldn't have to deal with these kinds of things! I'm nine years old! Almost ten!'_

She wondered where things went wrong. Perhaps it was the very first day she befriended Owlan, or maybe it was when they would always go out and pick flowers, or examine plants. Well, Owlan examined plants; Kespel examined Owlan. Maybe it was his long white hair, or his radiant smile when he found a plant he liked and he turned to show it to her, to _her_, or maybe it was his golden eyes that lit up in delight when he thought no one was looking, but she was, _she_ _was_... Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Kespel held it in between her hands. _'Stop it!'_ she screamed in her head._ 'He doesn't like you!'_

_'How in Skyloft could I like you?'_

His words rang in her head, mocking her.

_'What a silly notion.'_

Still gripping her head, she turned her helpless gaze to the moon, drowning in it's bright light. It was nearly full, and she had always enjoyed looking at it. Just staring at it now was calming her, stilling her nerves. She continued to watch it, reveling in it's beau-_What was that?_

Kespel leapt up from her spot on the ground, staring hard at what she saw. There was something, some kind of dark shape that was contrasted against the moon's light. It was big, it was dark, and _it was human-looking._

_'But it has wings!' _she thought furiously, staring in disbelief. '_And...and _horns_!' _Kespel raced across the stepping stones that led towards the other side of the pond, being careful not to slip. Once on the other side, she dashed towards the diving platform there, past the strange bird statue that was always missing one eye. Shielding her eyes, she stared harder, trying to see if she was hallucinating or not.

She wasn't. It was definitely there, and there was something else; another dark mass was following behind it, not exactly a defined shape. It was constantly moving, so she couldn't quite see what it was. It turns out she didn't need to, because a part of that big, black, moving _something _broke off from the rest of it. Three small shapes came flying towards her. She edged out to get a closer look when they came nearer towards her, and suddenly wished she hadn't.

Hideous, ugly looking creatures, things she had never seen before, approached with mean, glowing red eyes. Their wings were so abnormal, leathery things, like her boots, not feathered like Loftwings. Disturbing little faces gazed out at her menacingly, with noses that looked as if someone had took them around their necks and smashed their faces into the ground relentlessly. Kespel stood frozen in shock and confusion, and then they surrounded her.

A cry tore from her throat, and she shut her eyes and batted at the air, hoping and not hoping she would hit one. As much as she wanted them away from her, she didn't want to have to touch them.

A furious beating of wings reached her ears, and someone shouted. She opened her eyes, and, to her enormous relief, spotted a knight racing towards her on his Loftwing. She was going to be alright, she was going to be saved!

Then, relief was replaced by horror when the Loftwing the knight was riding reared back and gave off a cry of surprise and confusion at the ugly little flying things surrounding her. She watched in terror and fascination as one wing went up, one wing went down, tail feathers twisted to the right, both feet went up, and both the knight and the Loftwing spiraled down, heading straight for her.

Everything exploded in feathers, marring her sight, and she closed her eyes. For one terrible second, she felt weightless. And then nothing, except a furious wind. She snapped her eyes open, and watched Skyloft quickly growing smaller. Kespel was confused for a second,_ until she knew. _And then she was whistling furiously for her Loftwing, she was whistling for her Juncan. But he wasn't coming, for Loftwings didn't fly at night unless it was with experienced knights.

And so she fell, and fell, and fell some more, all the while having two thoughts run through her mind.

One was an extremely long and drawn out curse word that was _not _part of a suitable vocabulary for a ten year old, and the other...well...

The other was the thought that all Skyloftian descendants were going to become bird people one day.

Damn.

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><p><strong>AN: Woo! Okay, another chapter down, about a lot more to go. Okay, leave your thoughts or don't leave 'em, whatever suits you. Thanks for reading!<strong>


	3. Meet the Neighbors

Horwell knew that when he woke up that morning with a slight headache and a horrible feeling in his stomach, it was not going to be a pleasant day. After getting dressed he left his room, quietly closing the door behind him. All the Academy seemed silent. While he crept down the hallway towards the classroom, he glanced up towards the top floor, where he knew Kespel's room was located.

The feeling grew worse.

When he entered the classroom, there were only a couple of students there, sleepily rubbing their eyes and chattering in subdued voices. Horwell nearly gave a start when he realized Headmaster Gaepora was at the head of the room, looking somber. Feeling a little suspicious, he sat down at his desk and waited while the few others gradually walked in, Owlan being the last. Horwell noted that the other boy seemed more reserved than usual. Owlan took his seat beside him, folding his hands on the top of the wood and gazing down at his lap, seemingly in deep thought about something. And Horwell knew just what that something was. Kespel.

Oh, Kespel usually wore her emotions like clothes, out around her for others to see. But when it came around to her crush on Owlan, she was, for some reason, immensely better at hiding her feelings. Except from himself. He had known from the start. It was rather easy to see, if one knew where to look. The slight red tinge on her cheeks when she gazed at him, the way she laughed at something witty he'd said, her eyes lighting up when they spent time together. Oh yes. It was there, for anyone bothering to look.

The only thing Horwell himself didn't know was how Owlan felt about Kespel in return. That boy was damn good at his poker face, he'd give him that. But sometimes, there were these little things Horwell saw that made him doubt himself, made him doubt writing off Owlan as a hopeless cause. Such as how he would become so worried whenever Kespel pulled that prank of hers, pretending to fall off Skyloft. Such as the seemingly ever-present smile he wore when she was around. Such as the times when she hugged him, and Horwell could swear he saw a blush form on Owlan's cheeks.

And such as now, when Owlan was gazing anxiously at Kespel's empty stool in the spot next to his.

Horwell frowned as Headmaster Gaepora began talking. Surely he knew that they still had to wait for one more student? Kespel wasn't here yet. It wouldn't make sense to have to repeat whatever important announcement he obviously had to make twice.

"Children," Gaepora began, frowning deeply. Horwell noticed he had dark bags forming beneath his eyes. "I have some very disturbing and shocking news to tell you. It seems your young classmate Kespel...fell from Skyloft last night."

Silence. That was all Horwell heard for a good amount of time.

Then, all at once, _noise_.

Wryna gasped, throwing her small dainty hands over her mouth in shock. Piper nearly fell off her stool from surprise. Even his own jaw nearly hit his desk from opening in astonishment. And beside him, Owlan made some sort of choked gurgle deep in his throat.

"...What?" Owlan managed to croak out. His voice sounded hoarse.

Gaepora's frown grew more pronounced beneath his mustache, if that was possible. "Indeed, it is true. It seems she was out and about for whatever reason late last night. One of the knights patrolling heard a shriek, and dove to investigate. What he found was...highly unexpected."

It was silent once again, before Horwell managed to speak up. "What was that?" On his left, Owlan was trembling slightly.

"...Small creatures were surrounding her, from what the knight could tell. He didn't get a very good look at them, because he was focused on saving her at the time. Only, in the confusion, he didn't account for his loftwing's reaction to the vile creatures...it was rather drastic, and he crash landed on the diving platform, breaking it." Gaepora's explanation left the class in silence for a third time.

The horrible feeling that had been in Horwell's stomach since earlier that morning solidified into a lump of guilt, horror, and shock. He might as well have swallowed a stone.

Gaepora was still speaking, but Horwell tuned him out. Instead, he watched Owlan, watched the terrible sadness settle into his features, watched his face pale in horror, watched as he struggled not to vomit in distress.

Horwell watched it all, and it was all he could do not to throw up himself.

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><p>"Hey... Cobal, check this out!"<p>

_Red._

Where...

"What is that thing? Hey you, can you hear us? Hey!"

_Warm._

What...

"It's not sayin' anything. Maybe it's dead?"

_All around, fire burned. A swirling vortex of flames surrounded her, encasing her in their bright light and their warmth. She reached out a hand to touch them, and was not hurt._

Where am...

"Naw, it's still alive. Look, you can see it breathin'. I'm gonna go get Guld. You watch it, make sure it isn't dangerous."

_She gazed about, trying to find an inkling as to where she was, but nothing was familiar. There was just fire. Suddenly, two whips of flame floated around her, dancing and tickling her senses. She watched in wonder as they moved, hypnotized. They swirled around her, and she twirled with them, but when she stopped, she was looking into two, huge fiery eyes that were swallowing her._

Where am I?

"WAKE UP!"

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><p>Kespel groaned, feeling her entire body aching. She felt extremely warm and uncomfortable, and couldn't remember where she was. A bead of sweat rolled down her temple, sinking beneath her eyelid and stinging her eye. Her eyelids begin twitching, and she slowly blinked them open.<p>

Disoriented, it took a while for her eyes to focus, but when they did, she couldn't believe them. Her eyes shot wide in astonishment as she looked all around her, turning on her side as she did so, splaying a hand beside her on the ground.

She appeared to be on a mountain, and there were rocks all around her. It was unbearably hot, stifling even, and she could see what looked to be magma everywhere.

But that wasn't what made her jaw nearly drop to the ground in amazement.

To her immediate right was one of the strangest creatures Kespel had _ever seen_.

It looked to be a mammal, as it had fur the color of cream, and it had large paws and sharp claws, though the fur all over its body didn't appear to extend to cover its hands. But it also appeared to have hair, too, the kind her people had and not animals. It was a dusty sort of red, and very messy. The animal had a blue mask surrounding its eyes, but the most amusing thing about the creature was its extremely long snout, as there was a nose that seemed to never stop twitching perched on the end of it. The creature itself was half submerged in the earth, its lower body obscured by dirt.

Then it did something that interrupted her staring, and Kespel's blatant astonishment ascended into the next level. Pure gaping.

"Hey, buddy, who're you?"

_It could talk?!_

What kind of backwards world had she fallen into?

Kespel barely had time to ponder that thought when something in the words grabbed her attention.

_Fallen..._

She scrambled to her feet, apparently startling the creature as it threw its hands out in front of itself and leaned backwards, as if trying not to catch a disease. She looked all around herself again, spinning in half circles to try and get a full picture, and nearly made herself dizzy.

She swallowed harshly, feeling as if she were about to faint. She _wanted_ to faint, wanted it to all be a dream. "Where," she whispered quietly to herself, "am I?"

The creature heard her anyways, despite her hushed and strained voice, as it replied, "Where? Well, you're on Eldin Volcano. What I'd like to know is where _you_ came from and who you are and...what you plan to do to _us_." The pitch of voice told her that it was a male that she was speaking to.

Kespel blinked. "There are...more of you?"

The creature snorted and waved a paw about dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, there are more of me. Well, more of my kind. Why wouldn't there be?"

"Well, um, it's just...I've never seen any of...whatever it is you are, before. Ever." Kespel paused to ponder just how odd this conversation was, her talking to an animal that was talking back. Whatever it was. She gathered enough courage to venture a question. "Just what..._are_ you?"

The creature snorted again, then gave a laugh and crossed its arms. "What am I? I'm a mogma, o' course! What else would I be? The real question here is what're _you_?"

This was hardly what she was expecting, to be questioned on her species. But it seemed only fair to return the favor and answer the mogma, as it had answered her. She took a deep breath and said, "I'm a Skyloftian. I live in Skyloft. My name is Kespel." There, that was the basic information, wasn't it?

The mogma stared at her. "Never heard of it. The name's Ledd, by the way." There was an awkward pause as they both regarded each other in silence, before Ledd apparently deemed her safe and uncrossed his arms and rested them on the ground. "Well, if you live in this..._Skyloft_ place or whatever, what're you doing here? Shouldn't you be _there_?"

Kespel's lower lip trembled as a wave of uncertainty washed over her. Yes, what was she doing here, at Eldin Volcano, with this mogma named Ledd? What was she doing here, when she should be safe at home? How had she even gotten here after falling off in the first place, wherever here was? She had a pretty good idea, but it seemed so impossible she wanted to throw it out the window at once. But it was the only explanation she could think of.

"I...fell off of Skyloft. I fell through the clouds, and I guess I landed here, wherever here is. Is this...the Surface? Because...that's not supposed to exist! At least, no one has ever proven it. Please, can you tell me where I am? How did I even survive that fall, I should have died for sure! This doesn't make any sense, and I don't want to be here! I want to go home!" Her explanation had at first been a little quiet, but Kespel soon dissolved into a full blown panic attack, chest heaving and tears stinging her eyes as she began to blubber and wail. The terror of being in an unknown place far from home was setting in, and she began to cry. "What am I going to do? How am I going to get home? I don't have Juncan or Horwell or Owlan or _anyone_! I'm all alone!"

Ledd's panic at having the child start to cry was ever increasing as he waved his hands about. "Hey, s-stop that! Don't cry, don't cry! Cut it out!" He didn't understand why the small child was crying or if he had said something wrong to upset her. The girl had just been talking and he had been listening and then out of nowhere she had started blubbering and crying for home!

Now he wasn't sure what he should be doing, so he began to flail about in distress until two familiar voices reached his ears and he nearly sighed with relief, a great contrast to the still crying child as she looked up through her tears.

"Now just what is going on here?"

"See Guld, I told you there was a weird- Sheesh, Ledd, I leave you alone for a few minutes with it and you go and make it cry. What is wrong with you?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Blah, I am such a hypocrite. I dislike when people don't update stories after a year, then I go and do it myself. Man, this sucks. Well, I'm here now, so I'm going to do my best to update from now on. It might be a while, it might not, but I won't give up! I'll finish this story even if it kills me. I didn't like the first part of this chapter, since I don't think I really caught the character's personalities, but they're also children and people change later in life, sooo...whatever. But I liked the mogma part, so it evened out for me. As for how Kespel survived, well, it should be pretty obvious, yeah? Maybe. Sorry if you find any mistakes in this chapter, but drop me a note and I'll try to fix it as soon as I can. Here's til next time!<strong>


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